The strikkodrene (/ˈstɹɪkoʊdriːn/) is a stranger red in its entirety. Its skin is soft and sweaty to the touch, the area around its mouth humid. Its teeth and claws are sharp enough to pierce leather and most rubbers, and its flesh is fibrous, these strands of tissue filled with a vermillion-tinted liquid similar to both sweat and lymphatic fluid in smell and consistency. When the strikkodrene's innards are exposed (via cutting or tearing of the strikkodrene's flesh), these fibers grow outward from the wound, filling in the injury within minutes, but causing the affected area to take on a veiny appearance. Though the strikkodrene's slick inner mouth does not connect with its inner cavity, the lining at the back of its mouth is similarly rough and fibrous.

The strikkodrene is vulnerable to changes within its environment. Though it does not present with any outward signs of illness, temperatures below its preferred range of 79-110°F significantly decrease its stability, and by proxy, its lifespan. It is unaffected by high heat, however, impervious even to fire. Otherwise, its robust regenerative ability allows it to withstand a significant amount of physical damage, with blunt impacts causing no wear-and-tear at all.

Its voice is indistinguishable from a human voice, though its language is simple and overly repetitive.

"Strikkorokokokokokosstrikkokokoristrisstrikko."

environment and generation

The strikkodrene presents itself in enclosed and tangled spaces separated from the outside world by no less than seven distinct divisions. Its generation appears exacerbated threefold by pale walls, exposed pipes, painted cement, and large areas of white contrasted by sharper, more saturated tones. Its formation is a violent one, as it swells into being with a spray, splutter, and snarl. Its generation leaves a ringing sound in the air for several hours, and the strikkodrene spends this first part of its life fatigued and exhausted, its breathing deep and its mouth agape.

When two strikkodrene appear side-by-side, one of them always dies upon reaching that quick maturity.

behaviour and effects

The strikkodrene appears stricken by a hectic malaise. It spends most of its time in a specific location, snapping against the air and biting invisible insects. It is most agitated during the early part of its life, during which it exhibits a terrified defensiveness towards most things, assaulting all objects directly around it, leaving claw and bite-marks on surfaces nearby. It turns its aggression on itself infrequently, and causes no notable injuries to itself.

It tends to travel only when displaced, always maintaining a territory divided from the outside world by at least seven obstacles1. When it moves it does so with careful, regular paces, calm during the duration of its travel. While moving, it does not react to any other stimulus, returning to its typical, aggressive behaviors only when it has placed itself in the center of a newly established territory.

1.

"I opened the door, and it went deeper."

interactions with sensitives

Physical contact with the strikkodrene causes a variety of effects.

effect

5 weeks

10 weeks

14 weeks

17 weeks

20 weeks

Sedationi

<25%

0%

0%

0%

0%

Adrenaline 1ii

<25%

<78%

<86%

<88%

100%

Adrenaline 2iii

<26%

<22%

<14%

<12

0%

Adrenaline 3iv

<24%

<3%

0%

0%

0%

i.

In and of itself.

ii.

The most common effect, which can best be described as the "red sweat". A drastic surge of adrenaline fills the body, leading to shaking, sweating, a rush of blood to the skin, nausea, inability to speak, and a swelling of blood under the fingernails. Though intense, this effect lasts no more than 10-30 minutes.

iii.

This effect causes an extreme suspicion towards all surrounding individuals; physical side-effects, when they occur, tend to appear as a side-effect of mental stress, and not due to the spontaneous generation of adrenaline. These symptoms last up to forty minutes following contact.

iv.

This effect causes the division between the outer world and the body become less distinct."-laying on the floor like that. When I raised my head and chest, it seemed that I was losing my grasp and might float away from the world entirely, and when I grew limp I felt the world seep into me."Lang, Sandra. forum post

In all three cases, following this upheaval of the senses, the strikkodrene has a sedating effect within thirty minutes following contact.

The strikkodrene is resistant to attack, and does not retaliate against violence. Non-lethal injuries seem to both calm the strikkodrene somewhat, and expedite the converging of effect described in the chart above.

interactions with other strangers

The strikkodrene causes these effects to other strains as well. In the rare chance that one strikkodrene encounters another of its kind, one behaves as though being viciously attacked, eventually collapsing, while the other remains oblivious. The selection of victor to loser seems indiscriminate.

aging and death

As time passes, the strikkodrene grows gradually more stable. The strikkodrene's three modes of behaviour eventually converge into one, and it grows more consistent in its actions and demeanor. It seems fully calm and stable only at the very end of its life, by which point it sheds its animus in full, and spends its time observing its environment with a peaceful reverence.

It dies with a sudden snap and loss of tension in its body. Its corpse at first swells, then grows blurry, dissipating and leaving behind a stain upon the ground.